President Obama boards Air Force One as he departs in Dublin early due to concerns about volcanic ash from Iceland.

A volcanic eruption in Iceland threatens to complicate President Barack Obama’s visit to Europe, just as a similar one did last year. In April 2010, Mr. Obama missed the funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski because of poor flying conditions caused by the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull.

Mr. Obama’s scheduled trip to Krakow for the funeral last year was supposed to be his first visit to Poland. The country had for years hoped to get the status of a special U.S. ally and signed up for the Bush-era missile shield.

Mr. Obama canceled his predecessor’s missile defense plans as he pursued a reset in relations with Moscow, uneasy about the prospect of U.S. soldiers being stationed next to the border of Russia’s European exclave of Kaliningrad. Mr. Obama didn’t have plans to visit Poland, a contributor of troops in U.S.-led military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, until President Kaczynski died in an airplane crash in western Russia.

Advertisement

Mr. Obama’s visit to attend the funeral was expected to last just a few hours, but would’ve been long enough to produce images of the president sitting among world leaders, including Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev, in a Krakow church. But as the ash cloud moved across continental Europe and airports in Poland grounded scheduled operations, Mr. Obama canceled his trip.

His absence was strongly felt, with Polish media noting that Mr. Medvedev had flown to Krakow on his jet despite the ash cloud, and other heads of state took the journey by train.

He’s set to land in Warsaw on Friday. Forecasters say the ash cloud will extend toward Scandinavia in the coming days, just several hundred kilometers from Poland. Poland’s busiest airport, the Warsaw Chopin Airport, where Mr. Obama is set to land is operating normally, the airport said in a statement Tuesday.

Comments (5 of 9)

I didn't mean to digress, but what Republicans do - resembles the 'caveman' in Geico commercials.

4:57 am May 25, 2011

Ryszard Mysliwy wrote:

President Obama has put more Polish Americans into positions of great importance than any other president. He has appointed a top person as Ambassador to Poland-- not a cheerleading "buddy" like President Bush. And, he has spoken many times about Polish-US friendship. We will see what happens about the Visa issue.... But to criticize President Obama as unfriendly to Poland over the missile shield is unfair. Listen to our hero, Dr. Brzezinski abnout this!!! He will again get a strong Polish American vote in the next election which can be critical in Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin... Sto lat, Panie Prezidencie!!!

12:08 am May 25, 2011

Jay wrote:

Who cares if it does, Obama is not Poland's BFF

10:14 pm May 24, 2011

T wrote:

sorry, I meant "[...] so that the faltering economy will have support at least from the outside, [...]"

10:13 pm May 24, 2011

T wrote:

@alexbusybee: how is presence of Obama required for budget negotiations? his position is well known both to his staffers and to the main parties negotiating the budget. GOP is trying their best to bring USA to it's knees while stuffing the pockets of corporations & their owners full of money - Obama's presence in the country will not influence it much, and in the meantime he can at least strengthen USA's foreign relations so that the faltering economy will have support at least from the inside, as we are clearly unable to do anything to heal the country internally right now.

About Emerging Europe

Emerging Europe Real Time provides sharp analysis and insight into what’s making news in Central and Eastern Europe. Drawing on the expertise of our reporters in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Turkey, the site provides an inside track on economics, politics and business in this emerging part of the European continent.